


When the Past Comes to Call

by Luluw5



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Implicit Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21988402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luluw5/pseuds/Luluw5
Summary: Tanaka Saeko was beautiful, but not forever-be-stamped-on-one's-retinas beautiful, so why did Yui see her everywhere?
Relationships: Michimiya Yui/Tanaka Saeko
Kudos: 2





	When the Past Comes to Call

It was supposed to have been a one night stand, so why was her face burned into Yui’s mind? While Saeko was beautiful, slanted cat-like eyes and chin-length hair that framed her face like a curtain of gold, she wasn’t forever-be-stamped-on-one’s-retinas beautiful. So why did Yui see her everywhere?

That morning, Saeko had woken first, stolen one of Yui’s flannels and hogged the bathroom for ten minutes. When she finally emerged, Yui thought that she must have fallen asleep waiting because, when she opened her eyes, the bathroom light had turned into a blazing sun. The scent of woodsmoke and horses filled her nose, and Yui became acutely aware of the mount she was riding. She could taste dust on her lips, and when she looked at Saeko, the sun-kissed beauty seemed to glow atop her horse, a mirage in the middle of a sweltering desert. The wind blew Yui’s her hair across her face and Yui turned to face it. In the distance, tan clouds marred the horizon, growing larger at an alarming rate. All at once the dust weighed like lead on her tongue.

But as quickly as it had come, the vision left. Saeko threw the borrowed towel into a hamper, and strutted off to the kitchen in Yui’s plaid flannel. Yui rubbed her eyes. It was a dream of course, what else could it have been but a dream? Still, Yui couldn’t shake the image of Saeko looking up at her from under the brim of a western-style hat wearing a very similar flannel tied high to show off her midriff.

Next she shopped. Yui always went to the market on Sundays. Saeko had left while she had been writing up her grocery list; the older woman had taken the flannel and left her phone number. Yui supposed that was a promise of sorts, and not abject thievery. Right?

All of her favorite venders knew her by name. Yui liked to frequent the farmer’s market, support local businesses. The second time it happened, Yui didn’t know what to say. How could she fall asleep while measuring out rice? And yet she must have, because she was no longer standing in downtown Miyagi. Yui was knee deep in a rice field holding a basket on her hip while below her someone cut the drying stalks from the ground. She turned her head to the sound of dozens of feet marching in unison, burdened by leather and metal plate.

“Eyes for the fighting boys, hmm?” Yui turned back to find Saeko smirking at her, full hand reaching toward the basket Yui held. “They’ll do their part. Stay with me so we can do ours.”

Reality found Yui before she could respond. Instead of the woven basket on her hip, she had her purse, and street noises filled the air, not those of marching feet and rattling armor. Yui paid for her rice and walked on, Saeko’s face following her with every step.

* * *

The next time it happened was inside of a clothing shop. At the beginning of the month, Yui liked to drop off any clothing that had worn out, or that she had grown out of, to a drive hosted by the store.

It was a quaint shop, clean white walls and orderly wooden shelves of folded clothes, modestly presented. A line of antique sewing machines decorated the wall, starting with newer models behind the cashier, and snaking towards the dinosaurs above the entrance. The clerk greeted her cheerfully at the counter. Yui didn’t have much to donate this month. She had forgotten to clean out her closet last night when Saeko came over, but she was able to find a pair of well-worn overalls, and several socks and mittens who had lost their pairs. The cashier thanked her and took the clothes. As Yui turned away, her eyes fell on a 1910 Singer, and she felt herself begin to dream.

It was hot. The concrete factory walls seemed to leach the oxygen from the air and spit out moist heat in return. There were hundreds of bodies crammed onto the work floor, almost all women, and not one of them had personal space past their elbows. Yui frowned at a pile of shirtwaists, unsure of how to handle them. Aside from the whirring of the sewing machines in the back, and the rustling of fabric being pulled and folded each and every way, the factory was stiflingly quiet. Talk was heavily discouraged. Talk lead to less product. And yet, as Yui fumbled with a cheap pair of scissors, attempting to cut loose threads from the hem of a shirtwaist, a cheery, cockney accent broke the silence.

“Havin’ trouble there, love?” Yui’s head rose to meet a pair of concerned, cat-like eyes. Yui was sincerely taken aback; she hadn’t expected to see another Japanese person this far west. “What’s wrong, cat got yer tongue?”

Unable to formulate a response, Yui nodded dumbly.

“Ah, maybe you don’t know a lick of English?” The other girl scratched her head. “Well no wonder you’re doing such a shoddy job. Look here.”

Yui glanced around them to the other workers. Many were giving them warning stares, but far more ignored them in favor of completing their own work. Turning back to the friendly Japanese woman, Yui watched as she explained how to perform the job quickly.

“The loose ends all tend to be in the same spots, you see?” Yui nodded, not knowing how else to respond. “My name is Saeko.” The Japanese girl flashed Yui an enrapturing smile. “You got one?”

“Mimichiya…Yui,” Yui responded.

“Aha! So you can understand!”

“Yes,” Yui said slowly. “Your English is very good.”

“I’ve ‘ad a lot of practice, love,” Saeko responded cheekily. “If you ‘ave the time, come over for dinner and I’ll try to teach you the tongue.”

Yui stared, wide-eyed. Saeko laughed at her expression. “Maybe I should be a little less tongue-in-cheek, eh?” The workers around them began to fidget nervously.

“Saeko,” a younger blonde girl down the line called out in an urgent whisper, “the guards!”

Saeko’s face lost its cheery cast as she quickly stepped away. “I’ll find ya later,” she whispered to Yui before disappearing down the line. Yui watched her go, unsure of what to think.

In her kitchen, Yui had never felt more grateful for AC. As she pulled the cool air into her lungs, a slip of paper on the kitchen counter caught her eye. Lifting it, Yui stared at the hastily scrawled phone number. 

_xxx-xxxx_

_Found you. Call soon,_

_Saeko_


End file.
